NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rovers have been traversing Mars for years, exploring distinct regions of the Red Planet hundreds of miles apart. In recent months, however, both robots have encountered challenges in fulfilling crucial aspects of their missions.
Perseverance, embarking on its fifth scientific endeavor, faces difficulty reaching the rim of an ancient crater on Mars, taking significantly longer than expected to navigate the Martian terrain. Meanwhile, Curiosity has had its own obstacles, having to abandon investigating a dried-up channel after its wheels became stuck on a rock.
For nearly three months, Perseverance has been ascending the rim of Jezero Crater to investigate the potential existence of past life on Mars. The rover is grappling with the toughest terrain it has encountered, hindering progress beyond the mission team’s projections.
Undertaking its fifth scientific campaign since its arrival on Mars four years ago, Perseverance faces the immense challenge of exploring Jezero Crater’s western rim, which displays evidence of ancient hydrothermal activity. The rover must conquer slopes as steep as 23 degrees and ascend approximately 1,000 feet to reach the crater rim, formerly a vast lake billions of years ago. However, the journey has proven arduous.
Struggling with slippery and loosely packed terrain comprising dusty sand and a fragile crust, Perseverance’s progress has been significantly impeded. The rover has covered only half the typical distance it would on a standard drive, encountering setbacks in its ascent.
Concurrently, NASA’s Curiosity rover, preceding Perseverance, found itself navigating challenging Martian terrain as well. Hindered by suspension limits, Curiosity halted its journey prematurely, with one wheel stuck in a trough and another perched on a rock.
These setbacks underscore the formidable nature of Mars’ terrain and the trials faced by the rovers in fulfilling their scientific objectives.
Vocabulary List:
- Traversing /trəˈvɜːrsɪŋ/ (verb): To travel through or across.
- Obstacles /ˈɒbstəklz/ (noun): Things that block one’s way or prevent progress.
- Terrain /təˈreɪn/ (noun): A stretch of land especially with regard to its physical features.
- Challenges /ˈtʃælɪndʒɪz/ (noun): Difficult tasks or situations that require effort to overcome.
- Impeding /ɪmˈpiːdɪŋ/ (verb): To delay or prevent someone or something by obstruction.
- Investigate /ɪnˈvɛstɪɡeɪt/ (verb): To carry out a systematic or formal inquiry to discover and examine the facts of an issue.
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